The present invention relates in general to substrate manufacturing technologies and in particular to apparatus for measuring a set of electrical characteristics in a plasma.
In the processing of a substrate, e.g., a semiconductor wafer, MEMS device, or a glass panel such as one used in flat panel display manufacturing, plasma is often employed. As part of the processing of a substrate (chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, etch, etc.) for example, the substrate is divided into a plurality of dies, or rectangular areas, each of which will become an integrated circuit. The substrate is then processed in a series of steps in which materials are selectively removed (etching) and deposited (deposition) in order to form electrical components thereon.
In an exemplary plasma process, a substrate is coated with a thin film of hardened emulsion (such as a photoresist mask) prior to etching. Areas of the hardened emulsion are then selectively removed, causing parts of the underlying layer to become exposed. The substrate is then placed in a plasma processing chamber on a substrate support structure comprising a mono-polar or bi-polar electrode, called a chuck. Appropriate etchant source gases (e.g., C4F8, C4F6, CHF3, CH2F3, CF4, CH3F, C2F4, N2, O2, Ar, Xe, He, H2, NH3, SF6, BCl3, Cl2, etc.) are then flowed into the chamber and struck to form a plasma to etch exposed areas of the substrate.
Subsequently, it is often beneficial to measure the electrical characteristics in a plasma (i.e., ion saturation current, electron temperature, floating potential, etc.) in order to ensure consistent plasma processing results. Examples may include detecting the endpoint of a chamber conditioning process, chamber matching (e.g., looking for differences between chambers which should nominally be identical), detecting faults and problems in the chamber, etc.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a simplified diagram of an inductively coupled plasma processing system is shown. Generally, an appropriate set of gases may be flowed from gas distribution system 122 into plasma chamber 102 having plasma chamber walls 117. These plasma processing gases may be subsequently ionized at or in a region near injector 109 to form a plasma 110 in order to process (e.g., etch or deposit) exposed areas of substrate 114, such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass pane, positioned with edge ring 115 on an electrostatic chuck 116.
A first RF generator 134 generates the plasma as well as controls the plasma density, while a second RF generator 138 generates bias RF, commonly used to control the DC bias and the ion bombardment energy. Further coupled to source RF generator 134 is matching network 136a, and to bias RF generator 138 is matching network 136b, that attempt to match the impedances of the RF power sources to that of plasma 110. Furthermore, vacuum system 113, including a valve 112 and a set of pumps 111, is commonly used to evacuate the ambient atmosphere from plasma chamber 102 in order to achieve the required pressure to sustain plasma 110 and/or to remove process byproducts.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a simplified diagram of a capacitively coupled plasma processing system is shown. Generally, capacitively coupled plasma processing systems may be configured with a single or with multiple separate RF power sources. Source RF, generated by source RF generator 234, is commonly used to generate the plasma as well as control the plasma density via capacitively coupling. Bias RF, generated by bias RF generator 238, is commonly used to control the DC bias and the ion bombardment energy. Further coupled to source RF generator 234 and bias RF generator 238 is matching network 236, which attempts to match the impedance of the RF power sources to that of plasma 220. Other forms of capacitive reactors have the RF power sources and match networks connected to the top electrode 204. In addition there are multi-anode systems such as a triode that also follow similar RF and electrode arrangements.
Generally, an appropriate set of gases is flowed through an inlet in a top electrode 204 from gas distribution system 222 into plasma chamber 202 having plasma chamber walls 217. These plasma processing gases may be subsequently ionized to form a plasma 220, in order to process (e.g., etch or deposit) exposed areas of substrate 214, such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass pane, positioned with edge ring 215 on an electrostatic chuck 216, which also serves as an electrode. Furthermore, vacuum system 213, including a valve 212 and a set of pumps 211, is commonly used to evacuate the ambient atmosphere from plasma chamber 202 in order to achieve the required pressure to sustain plasma 220.
In view of the foregoing, there are desired apparatus for measuring a set of electrical characteristics in a plasma.